A Practical Gift
by Gennai's Acolyte
Summary: My gift for Hibiki Rose for the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges Secret Santa event. It's a fluffy one shot between Joe and Mimi shortly after Mimi's graduation, while she's visiting Japan. I hope you enjoy it!


This story is my Secret Santa gift for Hibiki Rose. I drew some inspiration from my current story, and thought that this would make for a cute one shot. Enjoy!

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><p>"You know, you didn't have to spend today with me," said Mimi as she and Joe walked along one of the paths encircling Tokyo Bay. "Everyone else had other things to do, and I know how busy you are with studying for medical school," she continued, "You've spent more than enough time with me during this visit as it is."<p>

"I know I don't have to," Joe replied with a warm smile on his face, "but I like spending time with you. I don't get to see you nearly as much as I used to, ever since you moved to New York. Besides, I need a break from all the stress of school, and you always seem to have an idea of the best ways to have a good time."

Mimi giggled slightly. "I'm not sure that shopping at the mall would be your idea of a good time," she noted.

Joe rubbed the back of his head as his face flushed slightly. "Well, maybe it's not something that I would normally like doing, but as long as it was with you, I don't mind. And after all, you deserved to celebrate! It's not every day that you graduate from high school."

"And I'm sure that I never had any help from anyone along the way," Mimi replied jokingly, "especially not with that biology course."

"Everyone needs some help every once in a while," said Joe, "I know that I went to Izzy for help with some of my math courses. Honestly, I'm still surprised that you didn't just go to him. He always seems to have a handle on everything."

"Yes," said Mimi, "Izzy might know close to everything, but he's terrible at explaining it. Or maybe I should say that he's too good at explaining things. He'll go through every unnecessary detail before he finally tells you what you need to know." Joe nodded understandingly as Mimi continued, "But you on the other hand just show exactly what I need to know. It's much better, in my opinion."

"Well, I'm glad that I could have helped, but the credit still goes to you," responded Joe, "In the end, you were the one who put in the work required to graduate. Besides, helping you out gave me an excuse to talk to you."

When Mimi didn't reply, Joe thought that he had said too much. The pair walked in silence for a moment before Mimi stopped suddenly, moving over towards the guardrail and staring out at the bay. "I miss living here," she said softly, "New York can be nice sometimes, but it's not the same. It's a different language, a different culture, it all just seems like a different world. And I miss being with the people that I care about."

"I can imagine," Joe said, "If I suddenly had to leave everything behind and learn a new language, along with all of my other responsibilities, I'd be a nervous wreck." Seeing Mimi sad always bothered him. She was normally such a happy, bubbly person that her being down seemed criminal. Carefully fishing into his pack, he withdrew a small package that he had snatched at the mall. Nervously, Joe cleared his throat. "Uh, Mimi," he said to get her attention. As she turned towards him, he held out the parcel to her. "I got you something at the mall. It's not much, and I don't know why I even got it when I don't even know if you'll like it, but I just thought that you might find it useful sometime when you're back in New York."

Curiously, Mimi untied the bag to see what was inside. When she finally undid the knot she was rewarded with the sight of a sturdy looking flashlight, like something that a survivalist might use. She stared at it for a moment, and Joe had difficulty reading her reaction. He braced himself for the worst, afraid that he had made a mistake. After all, Mimi loved fashion. Why did he think to get her something like this?

Mimi sprang forward and wrapped Joe in a warm hug. "Thank you Joe," she said sincerely, "This means so much to me."

"You really like it?" Joe asked, surprised, "I was afraid that you wouldn't want it. I just remembered back when we first visited the Digital World that you had all of that survival equipment and thought that you might find a use for this at some point."

Mimi nodded. "People know how much I love to be fashionable," she explained, "and so they usually think to get me clothes or accessories. And it is true, I always love that sort of thing. But people almost never think to get me practical gifts, even though I value those too. In fact, they mean more to me, because it lets me know that people actually care about what's good for me instead of just what they think I'll like."

Joe smiled, relieved. "I'm really going to miss you when you leave for America again," he said wistfully, "It's always too long before your next visit."

Suddenly, Mimi leaned in and planted a light kiss on his lips, sending Joe reeling back in surprise. That had been the last thing that he'd expected. He certainly wasn't complaining, though he immediately blushed from embarrassment as he twiddled his fingers. "What does that mean?" he finally stammered out.

Mimi smiled mischievously. "It means my next visit can't come soon enough."


End file.
